Automatic dumping and readjusting wagon.



J.P.HUGHES. AUTOMATIC DUMPING AND RBADJUSTING WAGON,

APPLICATION FILED NOV .11, 1908. 1,1 30,735.

Patented Mar. 9, 1910.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- J. F. HUGHES.

AUTOMATIC DUMPING AND READJUSTTNG WAGON.

APPLICATION TILED NOV. 11, 1908.

1,130,735. I Patented Mar, 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR 754mg". T 50M k 4;

, 1 ATTORNEY PATENT FFICE.

' AUTOMATIC DUMPIN G AND READJ'USTING WAGON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Application fded November 11, 1908. Serial No. 462,043.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Joan F. Hoar-ins, a citizen of the United States, residing at Darby, county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement. in Automatic Dumping and Readjusting Wagons, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to dump wagons and other vehicles in which the body has pivotal connection with its supporting frame where;

by it may be tilted to discharge its contents. In previous constructions of this character, in so far as I am aware, it has beennecessary to apply some force other than gravity to cause the body to tilt to discharge its load and to cause the readjustment of the same to its normal position.

The object of my invention is to provide a wagon which will automatically discharge its contents or -load and readjust itself to normal positionwhen the driver withdraws the latchor trigger or other means which -1s read usted by the indirect action of the may be used for holding the body in its normal position. Other dumping wagons of this character which have been heretofore constructed require, as already indicated, some force other than and in addition to gravity to cause the body to completely and automatically perform the acts of tilting to discharge the contents pr load and readjustment" to normal position. The operation of discharging the bontents or load. from the .wagon body or receptacle heretofore has generally been performed in three distinct acts,first, by tilting the body, usually by hand, to a dumping position; secend, the dumping of the load which is an act of gravity; and third, the readjustment of the wagon body or receptacle which may, be performed in various ways. By the employment of my invention these acts of tilting the body, discharging thecontents or load therefrom, and the readjustment of the body or receptacle to its normal position are performed by the action of gravity and require no other force to effect a complete operation. The peculiar and novel construction and arrangement of the parts of the structure embodying ny invention make this possible.

In a structure embodying my invention the body of the wagon rests upon a pivotal support so' situated with reference to the length of the body that the center of gravity of the body is in front of the plane of'the pivotal axis of the body when it is empty, wh le the center of gravity of the combined weights of the body and its contents or load is situated in rear of such pivotal axis. In the structure embodying my invention I have also provided means for utilizing the tail-board of the wagon as a counter-weight whereby a sufiicient amount of energy may be accumulated to readjust the body to its normal position after the load is dumped or discharged.

As already indicated, the relation of thecenter of gravity of the body when empty and of the combined weight of the body and its load is such that the action of gravity effects the tilting action of the wagon body to discharge the load and at the same time the tail board acting as a counter-weight is raised. This counterweight in descending assists in causing the body'to readjust itself to'its normal position. Thus the tilting I and dumping action are performed by the 7 direct action of gravity and ,the wagon b dy same force. The tail-board inacting as a counter-Weight or potential energy accumulator thereby becomes the means by which the kinetic energy exerted in dumping the load inaiy be used in effecting readjustment of the- In the accompanying drawings 1 have illustrated one form of a convenient embodiment of my invention and inthe said draw- 1ngs:Figure 1 is a perspective of a wagon made in accordance with my improvement, the body being in its normally adjusted position. Fig. 2, a rear elevation of a wagon. Fig 3, a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the body of the wagon in a position for dumping," the tail board being elevated.

In carrying out my invention as here em bodied, A represents the ordinary side bars of the frame of a dumping wagon mounted upon theusual wheels B and B,' and C resents thebody ofthe wagon pivoted' fo' the rear axle D by the straps and sleeves Ejso that it may freely swing when being dumped and readjusted; as will be readily understood. The body is so located that the greatest portion thereof is back of the rear' axle. The tail board F .is secured to the outer ends oflthe leyers G the inner ends upward and their outer ends are forked as indicated by J to form a rocking point for the levers G when the body is being dumped and readjusted.

J denotes pins which are placed in the upper ends of'the forked portion J of the arm I to prevent the levers G from leaving their place in the forked portion of the arms I, but when the wagon is to be loaded with Something which is very heavy which would be very hard to lift over the sides of the body the pins J may be removed and the tail board lifted and swung forward until it rests upon the top of the wagon body. To the front portion of the frame below the seat are fastened the rods K which extend rearward and have their rear ends forked as indicated by L for attaching them to the arms I thus bracing said arms. To the front portion of the inner frame is pivoted the lever N having the foot piece 0 in easy reach ofthe driver, and this lever is connected by the rod P to the latch Q, the nose of said latch being adapted to engage the lug. or timber R projecting from the front 'portion of the wagon for the purpose of locking the body in its closed adjustment.

S represents an elliptical spring so secured upon the frame of the wagon that the front portion of the body will come in contact with and compress the spring and hold it so compressed by the .latch Q engaging with the lug or timber R.

From the foregoing description the operation of my improvement will be as follows: When the latch Q is released the action of gravity will cause a tilting movement of the wagon body to discharge the load or contents. The expansive action of the spring S when said latch is released assists in cansing the initial tilting movement of said body; but the principal purpose and function of said spring is to act" asa bufier for the front end of the body when it returns to normal position. ,Said spring, however, is not essential even for this purpose, nor is it essential to the automatic operation of the wagon body in tilting to dump the load. As the body swings for dumping, the tail board will be swung upward as clearly shown in Fig.3 bythe connection of the lever G with the bracket H and resting on the rocking point of the arms I. As soon as the load has been cleared by the forward movement of the wagon the weight of the tail board will .causesaidbody to swing to its readjusted or closed position compressing the elliptical spring S and looking it by the engagement of the latch Q with the timber R,

- and this operation will take place with but little attention on the part of the driver, it being only necessary for him'to press'fore ward upon the foot piece Oof thedever; N to cause the wagon to dump, then start the team forwardto-,cause it tomeadjnst and.

lock. By the use of my improvement much time and labor and annoyance will be saved, giving the driver much better control of the team.

T represents short chains one end of each of which is secured to the frame, the opposite ends to the body which limit the downward movement of the rear portion of the body to the position shown in Fig. 3 when; the lower end of the body is in line with the wheels. 1

Ashas already [semi-indicated the portion of the body in rear of its pivotak' gonnection to its, support is somewhat longerthan the portion thereof in front of such support. This extra length of body provides for a greater cubical contents and a consequent preponderance of weight in the rear of such pivotal support when the wagon is loaded.

.On the other hand, when a body is empty the preponderance of weight is in front of such pivotal support by reason of the fact that at all times the weight of the tail-board of the body is borne by the arms I in consequence of which such tail-boardopposes tilting movement of the said body. Furthermore, by removal of the weight of the tail-board from the rear end-of the body the front end thereof forward of its pivotal supports which includes the front endboard of the body is of greater weight than the portion thereof in rear of said pivotal supports. Thus the pivotal connection or support upon which the-body swingsis so situated with reference to the length of the body. tliat the center of gravity is shifted from a point in front to the rear of such pivotal'connection when a load-is placed in the body. It will be understood, of course, that any other construction or .arrangement of the body whereby the cubical contents of the portion thereof in rear of the plaiie of its point of pivotal connection is greater than the cubical contents of# the body in front of such connection will eflect the same result. The function of the levers. G is to remove the tail-board F from the end' of the wagon body and at the same time to act as a powerful leverage to cause it to assist the center ofgravity of the combined weight ref the body and its load is locatedin. rear.

of the pivotal connection or support of the body so that the saidbody is at once 1,130,735 gar;

v the load being thereby discharged, the tailboard F which acts as a counter-weight is raised and thereby acquires a sufficient amount of potential energy which, in'connection with the portion of-the body which is in front of its pivotal connection orsupport, acts to force the body back into its normal position. i e

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction here shown as these may be varied within certain limits without departing from the spirit of my inventioni Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, is-

1. In a dumping wagon having a frame, the combination of a pivotally supported .wagon body, the center of gravity of said body when empty being forward oi its pivotand the center of gravity of the combined body and load carried thereby being in rear of said pivot,..a tail-board for SitldbOdY, curved levers pivoted to said body and r-igidly secured to said tail-board, bifurcated arms carried by said frame, and slidably v supporting said levers in rocking relation therewith, and a spring carried by .said frame tending to uplift'the forward end of said body and thereby supplement the ac-,

tion of gravity and forming a buffer for said body when returned to its normal position, after being dumped.

2. In a dumplng wagon having a frame,

the combination of a tiltable body pivoted to rock on said frame, its greater portion extending rearward of its pivotal axis, a relatively movable tail-board for said body, downwardly curved levers pivoted to said body and secured to said tail-board, means supporting the curvedportion of said levers in slidable rocking relation, and means tending to uplift the forward end of said body is returned to its normal position, and means for locking said body 111 normal position opposed to said bufi'er,'the curved levers being cooperative with their supporting means to effect the greatest leverage upon the wagon body when in its dumped position, said leverage gradually diminishing as said body is returned to its normal position.

v In testimony whereof, I have hereunto alfixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. r

' JOHN F. HUGHES.

Witnesses:

Jos. M. KAVANAGH,

WM. J. I;I 1LBERT.

and operative as a bufier when said body I 

